Winter Park backs Rollins stadium for minor-league baseball team

A rendering shows what a joint stadium for use by Rollins College… (aci architects inc. )

May 12, 2014|By David Breen, Orlando Sentinel

The Brevard Manatees may soon be packing up their baseball gear and moving to Winter Park.

The City Commission took a big step Monday toward bringing the minor-league baseball team to town when it signed off on a key element needed to finance the deal.

The vote was 4-1, with Commissioner Carolyn Cooper opposed.

The plan is to raze and rebuild Alfond Stadium at Harper-Shepherd Field, the longtime home of Rollins College's baseball team on the Orange Avenue-Fairbanks Avenue intersection. The capacity would go from 1,100 seats to 2,500, with berm seating for potentially several hundred more. The project also includes a parking garage with 480 spaces.

The new stadium would also correct a long-standing error, realigning the field so that the afternoon sun no longer shines in the eyes of batters.

In agreeing to the deal, commissioners voted to extend the term of the city's Community Redevelopment Agency by five years, to the year 2032. That extension means the city can then issue bonds to fund its estimated $6 million contribution to the $33 million stadium.

Rollins would share the stadium with the Manatees, a Florida State League team that's owned by Winter Park resident Tom Winters, an orthopedic surgeon.

The Manatees currently play at Space Coast Stadium in Viera. According to Baseball-reference.com, the team had 2013 attendance of 97,238, an average of 1,389 per game, in a stadium that seats 8,100.

The Winter Park stadium would host 100 regular-season games per year — 30 for Rollins and 70 for the Manatees — from late January through Labor Day. Some residents have expressed concerns the project's impact on surrounding neighborhoods.

Traffic already backs up regularly on Orange and Fairbanks avenues near Rollins, even without the influx of hundreds of cars that minor-league games are likely to bring.

Mike Miller, director of development for Rollins College, said he believes residents will be won over once they learn more.

"Some folks are talking about traffic and congestion and noise, and we're very conscientious about that," he said. "But a lot of people have yet to hear the whole conversation."

Miller touted the stadium as a revenue source for the city and the area, adding that it could play host to postseason tournaments.

"If you're looking at hosting a Division II regional or a high school tournament, you've got fans coming in from other parts of state, eating and sleeping locally," he said.

Dori Stone, the city's economic development director, noted the project's potential for creating service-industry and retail jobs for city residents.

Rollins will contribute $4.1 million in cash toward the deal, and another $12.25 million when the value of the land is included. The Manatees are contributing $2 million cash.

One more major piece of the financial puzzle remains if the project is to succeed. The city, college and team will work together to apply for what's known as a new market tax credit. The $9 million credit would require that interest be paid on it by the three entities for a period of seven years, and then the principal would be forgiven.

The Orange County Commission's approval is required for the five-year CRA extension. The commission is expected to take up the issue on June 10.

Winter Park Mayor Kenneth Bradley called Monday's vote an "exciting first step" with little or no downside to the city. "It's a very low-risk proposal at this point for the city of Winter Park."

If all goes as planned, the Manatees wouldn't take up residence at the new stadium until the 2016 season. But Miller said the hope is that the Tars, as Rollins' team is known, can play the 2015 season at Alfond amid the construction.

Paraphrasing Rollins baseball coach Jon Sjogren, Miller said the plan may be to "put up a fence and hope none of the kids hits it out of the park and hurts a construction worker."